A. Many human beings are confined to bed for prolonged periods of time. Such confinement may be due to recovery from a medical problem or to chronic infirmity. The human patient lies on top of the pad which is on top of a bed sheet, which in turn is on top of the bed mattress.
Some of the problems that arise with bedridden patients are the prevention of bed sores that form on the skin, and the movement of the patient in the bed. These bed sores, skin ulcerations, and/or pressure sores are not only very painful to the patient, but are very expensive to treat over a period of time. Bed sores, skin ulcerations, and/or pressure sores develop in four (4) Stages, Stage 1 being a mild abrasion to the outer layer of skin, progressing to Stage 4, which is "full thickness skin loss with extensive destruction, tissue necrosis or damage to muscle, bone, or supporting structures (for example, tandon or joint capsule)." (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services "Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians "Pressure Ulcers in Adults: Prediction and Prevention")
Patients frequently must be moved while laying on the bed. For example, bedridden patients must be turned every two to four hours to prevent bed sores from occurring. Furthermore, patients whose heads and upper torsos are elevated frequently slide down from the head of the bed and must be repositioned.
A preferred prior art method is to roll a draw sheet underneath the patient. The draw sheet is simply a folded bed sheet. The sides of the draw sheet are then grasped by the caregiver, lifted and pulled, thereby moving the patient to the desired position on the bed.
Hospitals and other health care institutions, typically utilize relatively coarse bed and draw sheets. The sheets are made of coarse cotton or coarse cotton/polyester thread. The sheets are seemingly chosen more for durability than for comfort. Turning or moving a bedridden patient on a draw sheet across a bed sheet is difficult because of the friction between the sheets and the weight of the patient. A health care provider who is turning or moving a patient in a bed may injure himself or herself because of the frictional drag while resisting the strain of having to grasp the edges of the draw sheet in a fist, trying not to lose control of the patient's movement. In addition, some patients are very sensitive to jerky movements as a result of recent surgery, or some other medical condition. The friction between the sheets makes smooth movement all but impossible, causing further pain to the patient and risk of injury to the caregiver. A health care provider who is turning or moving a patient in a bed may injure himself or herself because of the frictional drag and weight of the patient by using prior art means or methods. These injuries are quite common to caregivers.
As described hereinabove, prolonged confinement to a bed can cause bed sores or skin ulcerations. Bed sores are caused by pressure on the skin areas, lack of air circulation over the skin and by friction burns by objects in contact with the skin, i.e. bed sheets. Accordingly, the pad of the invention is left under the patient to facilitate the prevention of bed sores or skin ulcerations during prolonged periods of confinement in a bed. Pressure on the skin area occurs whenever a patient lies in bed. The most prominent pressure points on the body are the buttocks, shoulder blades, elbows and heels. If the weight of the body is concentrated on these particulate areas for prolonged lengths of time, the circulation of blood to these areas is decreased. Even healthy people unconsciously turn in their sleep so as to relieve this pressure.
In the prior art configuration, air is unable to circulate between the bed sheet and the skin because of the downward pressure of the body. Some hospitals and health care institutions use water or air flow mattresses to relieve pressure on the skin. However, these mattresses are covered in plastic or rubber and prevent air circulation to the skin and promote perspiration. In addition, the mattresses do not absorb perspiration, and consequently provide an environment for bacteria.
Friction burns occur whenever a patient's skin moves over a bed sheet. Depending on the type of skin of the patient, these friction burns can lead to bed sores after only two or three days of bed confinement.
As can easily be imagined, bed sores can be very painful, and add misery to a patient's confinement to a bed. Once a patient has bed sores, the number of positions that he can lay in bed is limited by the desire to avoid laying on a bed sore. Further still, because a bed sore is an open wound, it is prone to infection.
An accepted procedure for preventing bed sores involves turning the patient every two to four hours. This relieves pressure and allows air to come in contact with the part of the body that has been resting against the bed. However, when turning a patient, friction burns can occur due to movement over the bed sheet.
Besides turning a patient, a prior art method of reducing bed sores involves placing convoluted or "egg crate" foam under a patient to soften up the bed. However, the patient still lies on a bed sheet that cover the foam. The bed sheet can cause friction burns that can lead to bed sores. Also, the foam is difficult to clean and must be either disposed of or replaced if soiled with urine and faces by an incontinent patient.
The original purpose is to prevent the establishment of skin ulcerations on bedridden patients. When used on an incontinent diabetic patient who had already established a Stage 2 skin ulceration, the skin ulceration was healed within ten (10) days. It is very difficult to get any type of abrasion or sore to heal on diabetics. The unexpected results are that it accelerated the healing process by allowing more airflow to the skin, by dissipating moisture of body fluids rapidly and reducing the friction to the skin when the patient was turned and/or moved in the bed.
B. Also, some patients must be moved completely off of their beds and on to a waiting gurney or from a surgical gurney back to their bed. In emergency cases in the field away from the hospital, emergency personnel must lift the human onto a waiting gurney and then transfer the human from the gurney onto a hospital bed for treatment at the hospital facility. If the patient is an adult and is completely helpless, it is difficult to lift or move that patient off of the bed or gurney.
Hospitals, other health care institutions, and emergency services typically utilize relatively coarse bed and draw sheets and are chosen for their durability, easy maintenance, and for sanitation purposes as they can be sterilized. The sheets are made of coarse cotton or coarse cotton/polyester thread. Transferring a patient on a draw sheet is difficult because of the friction between the sheets, the weight of the patient, and no means to securely hold the draw sheet other than by grasping it in a fist, further endangers the patient and the caregiver as well. The health care provider who is moving a patient may injure himself or herself because of the frictional drag while resisting the strain of having to grasp the edges of the draw sheet in a fist, trying not to drop the patient. In addition, some patients are very sensitive to jerky movements as a result of recent surgery, injury, or some other medical condition. The friction between the sheets makes smooth movement all but impossible, causing further pain to the patient and risk of injury to the caregiver.
Other prior art methods of transferring patients off of a bed involve lifting devices such as cranes. These devices physically pick the patient up off the bed. These devices are expensive and ill-suited for moving a patient on a bed and too cumbersome to be used in the field by emergency personnel.
The original design and purpose is to provide emergency personnel and nursing personnel a means to move patients with less frictional drag. A prior art method, Treat, used longitudinal end loop handles for pulling the patient along the bed. These handles can easily slip from the caregiver's grasp or become unsewn or break from repeated use. The placement of digital eyelets within the pad lessens the possibility of the eyelets ripping loose and eliminates the possibility of emergency personnel and/or nursing personnel from accidently losing their grip, thereby dropping the patient. Also, it lessened the strain on the emergency personnel and/or nursing personnel's backs by allowing them to use different positions for leverage in lifting. Additionally, the pad can be sterilized in an autoclave, under ultraviolet light and other sterilization techniques, for use in surgical environments and for use on patients with open wounds.